Letters to the Editor

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, September 25, 2002

KENT KILLING

Victim was not 'homeless,' but simply not at home Kelly Rhae Craft, who was brutally murdered in Kent on the night of July 31, was not a homeless woman. Her home was in a small town 20 miles south of Jackson, Miss. The newspaper articles that followed the senseless murder described Kelly as "a homeless woman." She wasn't homeless. She just wasn't at home.

Kelly left her home five years ago when her mother died. She was devastated by the loss and returned to the Seattle area, where she had friends. We lost touch with her until last Christmas when she contacted her brother in Denver. We spent time together in Seattle last December. We stayed in touch by e-mail. We talked about the paths our lives had taken. We talked about the music we loved. Kelly loved the music of Patty Griffin. She talked about going home. Kelly was planning to return to Jackson to visit her sister. They made plans to go deep-sea fishing in Pensacola, Fla.

The newspaper articles also described Kelly as being a transient. Webster's Online defines a transient as "a person traveling about usually in search of work." Kelly was in search of the same things we are all in search of -- peace and happiness. Those things eluded Kelly. She was in search of escape from the pain of the loss of her mother.

She is survived by three sisters, three brothers and many nieces and nephews. We all loved her and are devastated by the senseless loss.

Kelly was an educated, intelligent woman. She was a beloved sister, aunt and friend. She had friends and family all over the country, from Seattle to Denver to Chicago to Jackson, Miss. She was welcome in all of these places.

Kelly wasn't homeless. She just wasn't at home.

Dennis LaFarletteGeneva, IL

INCOME DISPARITY

Who cares if rich get richer and the poor get poorer? I just finished reading the articles by Vanessa Ho and Phuong Cat Le in your Sept. 24 edition. These articles are not worthy of a sidebar, much less front page and lead article in your business section. Doesn't the liberal press ever tire of beating the drums on income disparity?

Yes, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the sun rises and sets every day. Who cares? Obviously the liberals do! Somehow in their twisted thinking they equate being poor with total unhappiness and being rich with utopia. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I've been classified as "poor" the majority of my adult life and I've never looked upon the rich with envy and greed. They've got their problems. I've got mine! Dollars in the bank can't give one dignity, nor should the lack of break my spirit. Noble is as noble does.

Michael McGaginTacoma

SEATTLE HOUSING LEVY

Now that we have money, be careful how we spend it Before getting jubilant over the housing levy "yes" vote, we should demand citizen input as to design and size.

Former Mayor Norm Rice said, "This is a great night. The levy speaks to every citizen and says there is a place for you in Seattle." Mayor Greg Nickels said, "That's a remarkable statement for a remarkable city."

How long will we be a remarkable city if these housing dollars go to erecting around our beautiful city more of the unsightly monstrosities such as those pictured on the Sept. 17 P-I front page on First Avenue and on 130th and Lake City Way? These buildings with their hideous color schemes are an aberration and an affront to our visual senses.

I hope this housing vision will not dot our beautiful city with more carbon copies of the ugliest creations ever to come off an architect's drawing board. Where will a person's pride come from while jammed into a monolith of hundreds of apartments? I fear it won't be long until these units become ghettos.

As a secondary thought to consider, where are all the cars going to be parked? Will they fill the neighboring streets? Sure, you have provided some underground parking on the assumption that the poor can't afford cars. Don't be fooled. You're right, a good share of tenants won't own cars, but with that many units there will be more cars than you have provided for. Instead of one good car they may have two or three junkers. Will units be assigned to only those without cars when the parking spaces are all alotted?

Let's give a little more thought and vision to future housing before a stamp of approval is given to the contractors.

Elaine HunterSeattle

GONSALVES COLUMN

Great countries educated, not shackled, by mistakes To err is normal, even humans do that. Columnist Sean Gonsalves rarely misses an opportunity to empty his night chamber on our country and her government. He frequently does that, even without crying "gardylloo" to warn hapless victims of his ideology, which can be described in one sentence -- "I can relieve nature in my nest anytime, 'cause it's MY nest."

What an idiotic supposition that if for some erroneous tactical reasons we'd befriended Saddam Hussein 25 years ago, it's our fault that he later gassed Kurds and Shiites!

Mind you, I'm not an advocate of "my country, right or wrong," but Gonsalves conveniently forgets that countries make mistakes as often as individuals. And a difference between a great and a not-so-great country is that the great country recognizes and admits her mistakes and tries to correct them. Contrary to a case with recent faux pas by the German minister of justice (in comparing George W. Bush with Hitler), which proves that German justice is not only blindfolded, but also suffers from a short memory. Let's correct our past mistakes and remove Saddam. Gonsalves' arguments don't stand serious critical analysis. He's not only an intellectual lightweight -- he is not even in the ring.

Michael VelikinKenmore

WASHINGTON'S 'UNCHURCHED'

Wrong to cast low religious ranking as a negative story Your front-page story about Washington placing second to last in religious affiliation seemed overly biased. Why not write the headline like this: "State ranks near top in the rejection of parochial superstitions!"

Furthermore, the prominent placement of the story (did you see where the Times hid it?) seemed to lend even more editorial weight to a story of dubious news value.

I thought the lottery was to cover education costs Your daily online poll asked, "Even if it means raising your taxes, should public school teachers earn more?" The answer, a resounding "Yes!" Our state's collective education system is in shambles and something needs to be done. Having lived in Washington for 20-plus years, I remember voting yes many years ago to a fix for our educational system. The fix: the lottery. That is how the state sold gambling to the public. Never again would our schools suffer. They did not come through. As the ticket sales soared and the money rolled in, they couldn't keep their hands off.

The monies went to the general fund and no accountability was ever offered. It wasn't too many years later we were voting on school levies.

There is still no accountability for the lottery monies and there would be none for a tax increase to support our teachers. The general fund could be nicknamed the "black hole."

What we need is for the money we have already designated to go where we designated it to go. Let's see past promises met and see what our true education shortfall really is.

Joseph StarkeyPort Orchard

THOMAS SHOOTING

Pattern of racism comes through in readers' letters The following excerpts are from the Sept. 19 edition of the P-I. Carla Fisher writes, "(Robert) Thomas sealed his fate that day because he didn't have the common sense to stay home." She says nothing about the fact that had Miller stayed home, which he should have, Robert Thomas would not only "still have his gun," but also his life.

Next, Kary Krismer weighs in. "Thomas was previously convicted of two felonies and at the time of his death was actively breaking the law by driving high on alcohol and cocaine," and suggests "the Reverend Braxton [and others] familiarize themselves with the story of the boy who cried wolf."Robert Thomas Sr. was not driving at the time -- he was parked by the side of the road.

Kurt Lysen adds his spin. "A convicted felon carrying a stolen handgun, driving drunk and high on crack. . ." and on and on these people give their twisted versions on the death of a black man they don't give a hoot about. And the P-I prints them, adding their own racist headlines: "Unsupported claims of racism don't help blacks." Yet, I rarely see a letter such as this that allows equal time for us to express our views about small-minded, biased, racist folk. What's up with that? (Lysen responds in a Oct. 10 letter.)

Now Playing:

Beatrice ClarkRenton

[Note: This letter has been updated since it was originally posted to match the printed version.]